Summary - Spring 2016
NYC H2O just wrapped up our spring season of free outdoor field trips for New York school children. Our STEM education programs provide a scientific and historical understanding of New York City’s local water cycle and infrastructure. We gave 76 water ecology tours this spring reaching 2,100 students, a majority of whom are from high-poverty and immigrant neighborhoods (Title I schools).
We visited historic reservoirs at Central Park, Jerome Park, Ridgewood, Silver Lake and Baisley Pond. Students got to walk on top of the old aqueduct at High Bridge and discover live oysters (and their hangers-on) straight from the harbor at Ellis Island.
With your increased support we were able to add new sites at Lemon Creek, Staten Island and Plumb Beach, Gateway National Recreation Area, Brooklyn.
At Plumb Beach, students were fascinated by the horseshoe crabs, an ancient but local creature. They watched as females crawled up the beach to lay eggs and mate, and they learned of the crabs’ role as scavengers in marine ecology. Students found and identified many other creatures, including crabs, clams, and caterpillars.
At Lemon Creek, students observed how the City manages stormwater in a sustainable way by channeling it into streams and wetlands. They learned how wetland plants can absorb and remove toxins from the water in a process referred to as “phytoremediation.” They also used our new NYC H2O Harbor Map to help orient themselves. We thank mapmakers Rowan Dickson and Ken Chaya for their generous help and expertise in creating this map.
With your increased support we were able to add new sites at Lemon Creek, Staten Island and Plumb Beach, Gateway National Recreation Area, Brooklyn.
At Plumb Beach, students were fascinated by the horseshoe crabs, an ancient but local creature. They watched as females crawled up the beach to lay eggs and mate, and they learned of the crabs’ role as scavengers in marine ecology. Students found and identified many other creatures, including crabs, clams, and caterpillars.
At Lemon Creek, students observed how the City manages stormwater in a sustainable way by channeling it into streams and wetlands. They learned how wetland plants can absorb and remove toxins from the water in a process referred to as “phytoremediation.” They also used our new NYC H2O Harbor Map to help orient themselves. We thank mapmakers Rowan Dickson and Ken Chaya for their generous help and expertise in creating this map.
Our field trips draw a range of students from grades 2-12, embracing the city's great diversity. Most live outside Manhattan and many attend Title III schools where a high percentage of students are foreign language speakers from new immigrant families and not fully proficient in English.
Many of the students who came on our tours have limited opportunities to explore parks and natural areas; many have never been out of their neighborhood. They got to experience flowers blooming and birds nesting. They used binoculars, many for the first time, to observe waterfowl that make their homes at the reservoirs and wetlands, like hooded mergansers, ruddy ducks and egrets. They enjoyed being outside, participating in Tree Races. They engineered a working aqueduct out of straws in our Aqueduct Challenge. In so doing, they learn a good deal about nature found in our local ecosystems, become stakeholders in the purity of the city's water, and become future stewards of a city that reaches out to include them.
Many of the students who came on our tours have limited opportunities to explore parks and natural areas; many have never been out of their neighborhood. They got to experience flowers blooming and birds nesting. They used binoculars, many for the first time, to observe waterfowl that make their homes at the reservoirs and wetlands, like hooded mergansers, ruddy ducks and egrets. They enjoyed being outside, participating in Tree Races. They engineered a working aqueduct out of straws in our Aqueduct Challenge. In so doing, they learn a good deal about nature found in our local ecosystems, become stakeholders in the purity of the city's water, and become future stewards of a city that reaches out to include them.
NYC H2O Spring Field Trips 2016 were made possible thanks to the generosity of the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, who provided a challenge grant, and the support of 70 individuals who helped us meet the Auchincloss goal of $10,000.
The Lemon Creek field trips were made possible by a grant from the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Environmental Benefit Program.
NYC H2O also thanks the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, The Catskill Watershed Corporation, Skanska, Turtle and Hughes, United Electric Power, Aggreko and EJ Electric. And the many individuals who supported our free school programs through donations, and by participating in NYC H2O adult activities such as kayaking, biking, and walking tours.
The Lemon Creek field trips were made possible by a grant from the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Environmental Benefit Program.
NYC H2O also thanks the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, The Catskill Watershed Corporation, Skanska, Turtle and Hughes, United Electric Power, Aggreko and EJ Electric. And the many individuals who supported our free school programs through donations, and by participating in NYC H2O adult activities such as kayaking, biking, and walking tours.
